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EFAP UPDATE FOR IAMAW MEMBERS

ByAdmin

Dear Sisters and Brothers,
On April 28, 2022, PDGC Dave Flowers and I met with Air Canada regarding EAP Funding. Due to a change made by the Government of Canada, Air Canada and the IAMAW no longer qualify for the Government’s Employee Insurance Reduction Plan. The EI Reduction plan has funded the EFAP for the past 20 years.
Before January of 2021, companies applying for the EI Reduction required a Short-Term Disability plan (STD) that commenced after the fourteenth day of leave. The Government changed the eligibility to those companies with STD programs that begin after the seventh day. For this reason, the EFAP did not receive funding for the 2021 year.
For many years, our members have enjoyed the comfort of chatting to a peer for assistance with their concerns. Sometimes this was a need to vent about the work environment. Other members’ needs were far more intricate and required the help of a professional. The EFAP has helped our members at all hours without fail, and the team of caring individuals wants to continue to support our friends and colleagues. Currently, there is enough funding to continue our EFAP work. However, our program will terminate early next year without additional EI Reduction monies. I have met with the Negotiations Committee about their thoughts on bargaining to change our current STD to the required seven days. I didn’t receive any indication if the committee would pursue this line of negotiation or not. Also, I am not sure that Air Canada will want to negotiate this item.
Air Canada has offered to add IAMAW members to the company-funded EAP they use. The program consists of LifeWorks and Maple’s online app. LifeWorks is an equal program to Homewood, and Maple is essentially a 24/7 online medical walk-in clinic. We are unaware if the union members you know, and trust, will have a role in this program. Given our forty-plus years of working with our members, I believe our program exceeds anything the company can offer.
I realize this bulletin may generate many questions. Questions that we may not have the answers to right now. I will continue to update as I have more information. Today, we are business as usual, and your EFAP is still available to you for the foreseeable future.
In Solidarity,
Derrick Bashford
National EFAP Coordinator Transportation District 140, IAMAW

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Bulletin # 42- ALL IAMAW MEMBERS-LEGISLATION UPDATE-10 PAID SICK DAYS

ByAdmin

Dear Members,

I am proud to say that our efforts were successful and that as of Dec.1, 2022, the Canada Labour Code was amended to provide 10 paid sick days for workers in the federal jurisdiction. There has been less success at the provincial level, particularly in provinces where Conservative governments brought in temporary measures, which are now expired.

The accrual of sick days starts in December, but actual sick days are not accrued until next year. 3 days will be accrued at the end of the first 30 days of legislation coming into effect, then additional days are accrued at a rate of 1 day per month, to a maximum of 10 days. It’s important to note that paid sick days are not in addition to what Collective Agreements provide, rather, if the Collective Agreement is inferior to the new law, employers must abide by the superior legislation. Sick days can’t be stacked with days available under a Collective Agreement; workers have access to either their Collective Agreement entitlements, if that agreement is superior to the law, or 10 days if the legislation is better than the agreement. The two cannot be combined. As a general rule, when determining if a Collective Agreement provides a better benefit than the new law, consider the entirety of sick day clauses in Collective Agreements.
In solidarity,

Dave Flowers President & Directing General Chairperson

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EFAP Bulletin

ByAdmin

Dear colleagues, On behalf of EFAP, I am proud to advise you that we have decided to extend our free 3rd party counselling service (Homewood) until the end of this year (December 31, 2021).This service is free (EFAP) and available to all IAMAW members who are active, on ODS or lay-off status.  Of course, active…